Counter means for coin chutes



H. N. BLISS COUNTER MEAN FOR COIN CHUTES Filed Aug. 16, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

HARVEY N. BL/SS ATTORNEY5 April 20, 1948. H. N. BLISS COUNTER MEANS FORCOIN CHUTES Filed Aug. 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HA RVEY N. BLISS AT TORNEYS Patented Apr. 20, 1948 2,440,191 coon-ranMEANS FOR com cmrrns Harvey N. Bliss, Windsor, Conn, assignor toVeeder-Root Incorporated, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of ConnecticutApplication August 16, 1944, Serial No. 549,873

The present invention relates to means for counting the number of coinsor tokens which. are fed through a chute of a vending machine or othercoin controlled or prepayment apparatus.

The aim of the invention is to provide coin counting means of thischaracter having various features ,of novelty and advantage and which isparticularly characterized by its simplicity in construction, itseconomy in manufacture and its reliability in operation.

A further aim of the invention is to provide an improved arrangementwherelnthe coins themselves, as they pass through the chute, drive thecounter so that no manual operation, aside from that of inserting thecoins into the chute, is required to effect a registration.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism ofthis sort wherein the coin last to drive the counter is held in aposition where it may be observed through a window and such coin isreleased by the next succeeding coin as the latter advances the counterone digit.

Other obiects iwill be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea- 1 l tures ofconstruction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts whichwill be exemplifled in the construction hereafter set forth and thescope of the application of which will be indicated in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown, for illustrativepurposes, one embodiment which the present invention may take:

Figure 1 is a front view of the chute to which my invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a rearelevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the mechanism as viewed from the left,referring to Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an edge'view thereof as seen from the right, referring to Fig.1;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken on horizontal planes through thechute, these views being taken substantially on the lines 5-5 and 6----&respectively;

Fig. '7 is a vertical sectional view through the chute takensubstantially on line 1--1 of Fig. 5 and shows a coin in that positionwhere it may be observed through the sight opening or window; and V Fig.8 shows a succeeding coin in the act of tripping the latch 26.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A denotes generally a coin chuteonly so much thereof being shown as is necessary to illustrate thepresent invention. The chute may be associated with any 2 Claims. (01.133-8) suitable coin controlled or coin operated mechanism, the same notbeing disclosed. For example, the chute may be employed to deliver coinsto a coin controlled liquid dispensing apparatus. The upper end of thechute may be provided with any suitable device for throwing out spuriouscoins or tokens.

In the present illustrated disclosure, the chute has a front plate l2provided on its rear face with two parallelribs H, the opposed edges ofwhich form the side edges of the coin or token passage Ill. The rearwall of the chute comprises the plates l6 which may be secured to theribs by screws l8. The rear wall of the chute has a semi-circularopening H! which accommodates the driving member 20 of the counter 2|.This driving member is here shown as being in the form of a disk havingon its front face coin engaging members or abutments in the form of pins22. In the present instance, the p ns are five in number, are equallyspaced apart, and are disposed adjacent the perimeter of the disk. Oneof the ribs [4 is grooved, as at 23, so as to accomodate these pinsduring the step-bystep rotation of the disk.

The edge of the disk is provided with notches 24 corresponding in numberand spacing to the pins 22. The trailing edges 25 of these notches areradially disposed so as to form shoulders with which cooperates thetooth 30 of a latch 26. The latch is pivoted at its upper end to one ofthe ribs by a screw 28. This latch h'as, intermediate its ends, an ear32 whichis offset forwardly so as to extend into one side of the coinpassage ID. The rib to which the latch is pivoted has a transversegroove 33 which accommodates this ear, The inner edge of this ear isinclined downwardly and inwardly of the chute so as to provide a camsurface 34 against which a coin is adapted to bear, as shown in Fig. 8,so as to move the latch to the released position shown therein. Thelatch is urged towards the periphery of the disk by a compression spring36 mounted in a groove provided in a boss 3 8 on the front plate 12. Theupper rear plate It is cut away -or notched, as at 40, so as toaccommodate the latch. The lower plate it has, at its upper end, arearwardly oifset ear 42 which serves to guide the lower end of thelatch and also to close the groove in which the. spring 36 is mounted.The front wall of the chute is provided with a window 44 or sightopening through which the coins, when they reach the position shown inFig. 7, may be observed.

The counter or registering mechanism 2| may be of any suitable type, ithere being shown conventionally as having a casing within which are aplurality of numeral wheels 45 between which any suitable transfer means(not shown) may be provided. These wheels are mounted on a shaft 41. Thecounter has a drive shaft 46 which may be eared to the wheel of lowestorder in a one to two ratio. The driving disk 20 is fixed to this shaft46, The counter is mounted on a bracket 48 which is secured to the rearface of the front wall l2 by means of screws 50.. v

The operation of the device will be readily understood from anexamination of Figs. 7 and 8. In Fig. 7, the coin, which is disclosedfor illustrative purposes as comprising a Jefferson nickel or five-centpiece, is shown as being held in a position where it is behind thewindow or sight opening 44. The pin which supports-this coin is in coinholding position adjacent the right hand edge of the passage. When thecoin moved through the chute to that position, it first engazed the camedge 34 so as to release the disk from the latch and then, through itsengagement with the pin 22 therebeneath, advanced the disk to theposition shown. The disk was stopped in this position by the latch whichwas automatically moved into the latching position shown by the spring36. Fig. 8 shows a second coin passing through the chute, this coinbeing illustrated as an Indian-head nickel or five-cent piece for pur-'poses of distinction only. This nickel is shown in the act of trippingthe latch, and it will now move down to engage the left hand pin 22(which is in coin receivingposition) so that the weight of this coin,together with the weight of the first coin, will serve to drive the diskone step. During such step movement of the disk, the Jefferson nickel isreleased from the position shown and will drop down through the chute toa receptacle or coin controlled mechanism (not shown). The disk, ofcourse, is stopped by the latch in a position in which the Indian-headnickel is held in registry with the window. It will be observed that thepins are so located that they do not interfere with the engagement ofthe coin with the cam 34 of the latch. The pin, when in coin receivingposition, is initially in the horizontal plane which includes the axisof the disk so that, when the coin engages the pin, maximum leverage isobtained toset the disk into rotation, and when the disk is stopped bythe latch, the pin is in a position to hold the coin between itself andthe opposing side edge of the passage ill in registry with the window orsight opening. Upon each step rotation of the disk, the numeral wheel of1 lowest order of the counter will be advanced one digit.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, a coin chute having adownwardly extending passage corresponding in cross section generally tothe cross sections of the coins, an element arranged to bedriven by theweight of the coins passing through said passage, said elementcomprising a rotary disk partially located in the rear wall of thepassage and a plurality of pins projecting from the front face of thedisk and adapted to be engaged by the coins, said pins being angularlyspaced-apart and each having within the passage a coin receivingposition adjacent one side edge of the passage and a single temporarycoin holding and exhibiting position therebe neath adjacent the oppositeedge of the passage, said disk having stop shoulders, and a pivotedlatch located adjacent the first-mentioned side edge of the passage andhaving a tooth adapted to engage said shoulders and a downwardly andinwardly inclined cam portion projecting into said passage above thecoin receiving position of said pins and adapted to be engaged andcammed outwardly from said passage by a coin passing therethrough todisengage the tooth from said shoulders whereby the coin is permitted tomove to held and exhibited position while the prior coin is released.

2. In a device of the character described, a coin chute having asubstantially straight downwardly extending passage, a rotary elementarranged to be driven by the weight of coins in said passage, saidelement comprising a disk having a plurality of coin receiving pinsspacedapart adjacent the periphery thereof and each adapted to berotated with said element into a coin receiving position within thepassage and a single coin holding and exhibiting position therebeneath,means for permitting said disk to rotate one step for each successivecoin moving through said passage and into engagement with a said pin incoin receiving position thereby moving said successive coin to exhibitedposition and releasing the prior coin; said means comprising shoulderson said disk, latch means cooperating successively with said shouldersand urged into cooperation with said shoulders by a spring, and a camassociated with said latch and extending into said passage above saidcoin receiving pin and adapted to cam said latch out of engagement withsaid shoulders by the weight of a coin as it moves downwardly in saidpassage.

HARVEY N. BLISS. REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date324,877 Gill Aug. 18, 1885 620,197 Taylor Feb. 28, 1899 1,287,025 HuddleDec. 10, 1918 1,746,748 Thompson et a1. Feb 11, 1930 1,839,841 Fry Jan.5, 1932 2,298,500 Mueller Oct. 13, 1942

